How will you celebrate Matariki?

This Friday 24th June is a huge moment for Aotearoa. It marks the first official Matariki celebration.

This is a time for coming together over kai. It's a time for remembering the past, celebrating the present and looking ahead to the future.

As part of the Feast Matariki season, we have two key events taking place this week in Te Waipounamu / South Island.

On Saturday 25th June we will be in the heart of Ōtautahi / Christchurch coming together in the beautiful Botanic Gardens for a four course Fiery Feast - that honours Matariki. Scroll down to see the incredible menu.

There are still tickets available (secure your seat here) and we'd love to see you!

On Friday 24th & Saturday 25th we will be in Takapō, as part of the two day festival Matariki Mackenzie.

But wherever you are across the whenua (land), there are a bunch a different events taking place to celebrate this special time of year.

As Kingi Biddle said at the launch of the Matariki Dish Challenge in Rotorua / Bay of Plenty recently, it's important to remember that "Matariki shines on everyone. Matariki belongs to all of us."

Check out the Feast Matariki website (www.feastmatariki.nz) and lock in plans for how you’ll be celebrating.

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Angela Clifford, CE Eat New Zealand.

Keep an eye over on socials at both @eat.newzealand and @feastmatariki to see these celebrations in action.

Join us in Ōtautahi on Sat 25th June

We are lining up for this weekends Fiery Feast, which will be a wonderful way to celebrate community, understanding and connection during Matariki.

We'll keep you warm all evening (the main event is in the Ilex Cafe), and there will be story-telling and kai presented by Māori chefs and presenters including Jonny Schwass, Josh Hunter from Whakapapa of Your Kai and Junior Tana from Pūmau Productions, supported by Mat Johns and Rod Thomson of Base Food By Fire.

The evening will begin with waiata in the conservatory and will be studded with special moments connecting us to this time of year. There will be four courses matched with organic Greystone Wines and Brew Moon beer from Waipara / North Canterbury or non-alcoholic alternatives.

Check out the Kai offering for the evening:

Conservatories Canapes

● Tūna & Pūhā

● Thar Tartare

● Kōura & Kānga

Kai Moana Moki, Kūtai & clams cooked in bull kelp over hot oak coals served with kina roe & condensed milk mayo, Rēwena bread & seaweed butter, pickled red & white radish, turnips & golden beets

Celebration of Kūmara Various kūmara & urenika potatoes cooked in coffee, dehydrated, fermented, pickled, preserved, pureed, smoked, roasted and fried

Kai whenua Whole poaka / pig cooked slowly over plum and cherry coals Served with wood roasted tītī & a feasting table of watercress, foraged mushrooms, native spinach, collard greens, heirloom carrots, black apple vinegar, apple sauce, smoked chicken gravy

Marae Tea Cauldron of tea cooked over fire sweeten and finished with oat milk Steamed burnt sugar sponge cake with laced custard ‘Tinned’ persimmon, rhubarb & quince

Koha Iti Rēwena bread & sugar biscuits to take away and enjoy the next morning

Tickets are selling out - so act quickly yo secure your seat here.

This event it brought to you by Eat New Zealand & Ngāi Tahu as part of our Feast Matariki celebrations.

Join us in Õtautahi / Christchurch on Sat 25th June!

Stuff Article: Feast Matariki

Here's a great piece from Stuff.co.nz about Feast Matariki and why we are celebrating this important occasion.

It features the upcoming Ōtautahi / Christchurch event, as well as details about the Awarua / Bluff event with our Kaitaki Chef Ethan Flack and Hunter/Beekeeper Dan Tarrant.

Read the full article here. We hope it inspires you to secure plans for your own Matariki celebrations.

Take me to the Stuff.co.nz Feast Matariki Article

Matariki Mackenzie - Fri 24 & Sat 25

We're looking forward to heading down to Takapō on Friday as part of the Matariki Mackenzie festival - a celebration of whānau and whenua and included as part of our Feast Matariki programme.

Te Manahuna (the Mackenzie), is home to the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. They're driven by a collective kaupapa (purpose) to protect te pō (dark sky), preserve whenua (land) and kotahitaka (unity).

We'll be coming together for kai, culture and kōrero as we celebrate the rising of Matariki under the cloak of the world's largest gold dark sky reserve.

There are a range of different community events taking place in Takapõ across both Friday 24th & Saturday 25th June - take a look at what's in store here.

Mahika Kai experts in Takapō

Feast Matariki with Joseph Hullen, Dr Mike Stephens and Giulio Sturla Saturday 25th June

11.15am & 12.45pm

Tekapo Community Hall,

8 Aorangi Crescent, Takapō

FREE

Join Ngāi Tahu's Mahika Kai experts Joseph Hullen and Dr Mike Stephens as they reconnect you to where your kai comes from. They'll be supported by Giulio Sturla, founder of Eat New Zealand and owner of Mapu Test Kitchen. Get your tickets here.

This event is part of the Matariki Mackenzie Festival - a celebration of whānau and whenua - taking place in Takapõ on Friday 24th & Saturday 25th June.

Find out more about what's happening over the two day festival here.

Get tickets to the Feast Matariki Mahika Kai Demonstration

Feast Matariki Ōtepoti / Dunedin

Late last week we headed to Ōtepoti / Dunedin for Feast Matariki at the Otago Polytechnic's Manaaki Restaurant.

The food was presented by the Food Design students who had considered every detail of the evening. Including storytelling of each course drawing in the diverse backgrounds of the students who created it. The students and the meal were acknowledged through waiata (song).

See highlights from the evening over on our Instagram Stories here.

Another Beautiful 'Kaihaukai'

We spent a very special evening in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland last week. Huddled together at Ima Cuisine for our second 'Kaihaukai' event, as part of Feast Matariki presented by The Realness and Eat New Zealand.

It was a beautiful gathering of community and connection, with over 30 Realness owner-operators contributing to the evening - with everything from Smoked Kahawai pies, to Huntress Wines, Tora Collective Crayfish bisque with fry bread, and Yael's famous Pork shoulder with generous and colourful salads and sides.

There was some incredible storytelling from Lee Timutimu and Tamati Waaka of Arataki Official, a Māori owned storytelling platform that shares kōrero embedded in the whenua across Aotearoa.

The Koha Tēpu (table) was a highlight, where everyone brought something to gift and share to acknowledge the exchange. It was overflowing with homegrown produce, herbs, ceramics, ferments, storybooks, seeds, chocolate, knitting and poetry.

A huge thank you to Damaris Coulter of The Realness and Yael Shochat of Ima Cuisineand their respective team, who looked after us all so generously.

You can see more action from the evening over on IG here.